C519 Endless Pursuit
Scarlet bolts of divine lightning, speckled with crimson spots, streaked across the sky—a solar flare emblazoned with a terrifying inferno. The boundary wall of the Boundless Land seemed to malfunction, offering no resistance.
The mightiest guardian, charged with the protection of this great world, appeared to be caught napping, neglecting his duty. Sunlight pierced through the realm unimpeded, reaching the Crack Archipelago in a flash, drilling through the Yang cultivator of the Babel Chamber of Commerce as if the sea's gold-metal surface was mere parchment.
A colossal hole was gouged into the golden sea, which then burst into flames. The marine life below, the most vulnerable creatures, perished in an instant. Even those cultivators at the Yellow Court and Profound Break Stages, scouring the seabed for shells, pearls, and spirit-infused corals, met an inexplicable demise. Countless unfortunate souls floated up from the depths, their lifeless bodies surfacing.
In the midst of this chaos, another bolt of divine lightning, ablaze with fire, struck the mountainous iron seal. The dense script that covered the seal flickered and died out, extinguished in swathes. From within, an agonized howl echoed from the Primordial Yang Sect's expert. Despite being a Yang God cultivator concealed within an artifact, he too suffered a grievous blow in mere moments.
The massive iron seal plummeted into the depths like a fiery mountain range collapsing into the sea. With a resounding whoosh, the iron seal's descent stirred up towering, fiery waves.
"Hu!" In contrast, the Silver Rainbow Magic Shuttle shifted, vanishing into thin air, dodging the oncoming assault. The lightning that had targeted the shuttle dove into the golden sea instead, compounding the injuries of the Babel Chamber of Commerce's Great Cultivator.
"My god!" Mo Yan, inside the Silver Rainbow Magic Shuttle, couldn't help but exclaim in shock at the sight of the sun outside, "Impossible! How can this be? Are all the sentinels of the outer realm asleep at the same time?"
The Devil Envoy's usually cool voice inside the shuttle turned frantic, "There's trouble from beyond!"
Boom! The Void Pavilion, meticulously refined by Old Cash, shattered explosively under the sun's glare. Countless pieces of white, green, and black jade, like shattered tiles, scattered chaotically through the air.
Old Cash sobbed uncontrollably.
Hovering in midair, the Evil Cauldron, with Yu Yuan, Yuan Lianyao, and Old Cash concealed within, sped towards Babel Island. It resembled a dark demonic cloud, escaping just before the Jade Tower shattered.
Inside the cauldron, Old Cash continued to weep while activating the Golden Jade Spiritual Spell. The jade shards and copper pieces scattered in the air were drawn to him as if he were a massive magnet, pulling the spiritual materials that once belonged to the Jade Tower into his sleeves.
"My Jade Tower is gone, all gone!" Old Cash was on the brink of a breakdown. The artifact, a labor of love that took a century to forge, traversing the Profound Sky Continent and numerous ancient sites, was now in ruins.
The fragments of spiritual material he managed to salvage amounted to a mere third of the original. The prospect of restoring the Jade Tower was utterly hopeless.
"Enough with the noise, it's driving me mad!" Yuan Lianyao, also within the cauldron, glared at the still-escaping devil light and snapped at him, "Don't you realize there's a problem beyond the Boundless Land?"
Her words struck Old Cash like a thunderbolt, silencing him instantly. He turned his gaze to Yu Yuan instinctively.
Yu Yuan, bracing himself against the cauldron's rim with one hand and clutching his sword sheath with the other, alternated his gaze between the blazing sun above and the space behind him. His demeanor was grave and tense. "The Devil Palace's Guardian, Heixun, breaking free with the Aura Altar, signals a multitude of issues."
As a sentinel of the outer realms, tasked with defending against the Outland Devaputra and the mighty cultivators of the galaxy's alien races, he knew they wouldn't stand by idly. Heixun's escape indicated a disturbance in the outside world.
At this moment, the distant sun, far from the Boundless Land, influenced by the Chaos Roc's manipulation of the Eye of the Flaming Sun, was unleashing fierce solar lightning upon the Crack Archipelago!
Even the combined might of the three great upper sects, the Devil Palace, and the Demon Palace had failed to contain it.
Such anomalies suggested a colossal shift had occurred in the depths of the vast galaxy, for neither Heixun nor the Aura Altar would have broken free otherwise.
The sun beyond our world could never lend its power to the Chaos Roc.
"As long as we make it to Babel Island, we'll be fine!"
Old Cash's voice steadied, "If the sky were to fall, there would be tall ones to hold it up. The three great upper sects of the Heavenly Source Continent—the Demon Palace, the Demon Palace, and the Red Devil Sect—are the backbone of this realm. They control the finest resources across the three continents. It's time they stepped up!"
Yu Yuan remained silent, his relief at their narrow escape tempered by concern.
He had a nagging feeling that Lim Zhuyun would make another move from the depths of the sea.
The Yang cultivator from the Primordial Yang Sect had been gravely injured, and so had the enigmatic Devil Envoy from the Demon Palace. Though she managed to shift the Silver Rainbow Magic Shuttle, was her soul unscathed?
And hadn't the Chaos Roc been pilfered by Heixun and his crew?
How then could it harness the power of the sun through the Eyes of Flaming Sun, reaching across the vast expanse of space to directly influence the Crack Archipelago?
Could it be that the Starry Behemoth was not dead but had regained much of its strength?
Yu Yuan's mind brimmed with questions, his mood far from lightened, growing even more somber.
"Babel Island!"
Dozens of miles away, several notably larger islands within the Crack Archipelago came into view.
From within the cauldron, Yu Yuan needed only a glance to identify not just Babel Island, but also Medicine God Island and Weapon Island.
Further still was Sword Island, elongated and solitary.
"Lim Zhuyun isn't critically injured; she still possesses fighting strength," Yuan Lianyao inhaled deeply, her alertness unwavering. "Don't become complacent. Proximity to Babel Island doesn't guarantee safety."
Old Cash continued to gaze skyward, noting, "The sun has ceased exerting its force."
His fear was palpable; another divine bolt of fire from the sun could strike the Evil Cauldron and obliterate them in an instant.
"The Jade Tower is no more. Had Yu Yuan not swiftly transported them away with the Evil Cauldron, he too would have perished."
The cultivators from the Primordial Yang Sect and the Demon Palace, who had reached the esteemed Yang God Stage, could withstand a direct hit from a sun's fiery lightning without dying, merely sustaining heavy injuries.
But if he were to take such a hit, it would undoubtedly be fatal.
"She's here!"
A wisp of soul thought suddenly echoed in Yu Yuan's heart lake, originating from the cauldron soul.
Simultaneously, from the distant Babel Island, Medicine God Island, and other islands, earth-shattering waves of energy erupted, startling many great cultivators into action.
A chilling, spectral figure emerged from the fiery sea.
It was none other than Lim Zhuyun!
Old Cash whirled around, his lips blanching with fear. "What kind of fiend is she?"
"Is it truly her?" Yuan Lianyao's heart sank with bitterness as she pondered, "How did that girl become so formidable? What did the Chaos Roc promise her, what power did it bestow upon her?"
Once merely at the Profound Break Stage, Lim Zhuyun had, in an incredibly brief span, amassed the monstrous strength to slay those at the Soul Wandering Stage and confront Yang Gods—a feat defying all reason!
Yuan Lianyao began to doubt, questioning Yu Yuan's assessment, wondering if they were dealing with a mighty Devaputra that had slumbered in the Boundless Land for eons.
"It must be her; she's likely exhausted every option to break free from the Boundless Land with haste," Yu Yuan stated, his expression dark. "Here, she's a target for the three upper sects, the Devil Palace, and the Demon Palace—hunted relentlessly. Only a swift escape offers her a sliver of hope for survival."
"I even suspect that she won't survive the repercussions of her sudden surge in power once she's out, and she'll perish in the outside world."
As Yu Yuan spoke, he covertly signaled the Artifact Soul, instructing it to disregard him and proceed to Babel Island.
He aimed the sword sheath he held at Lim Zhuyun's back and once more summoned the sword soul that had lain dormant within his arm bone for ages.
"Are you still there? If you can move, lend me your strength. Otherwise, I'm as good as dead..."
Several miles away, Lim Zhuyun, gripping the icy moon-refined spike in her left hand, flung it towards the Evil Cauldron.
A frigid bolt of lightning cleaved through the cloud sea, splitting the heavens and earth above the ocean!
Wherever the cold lightning struck, the space, including the Evil Cauldron, was instantly encased in ice.
Before the icy spikes could even reach them, Yu Yuan and the other two inside the Evil Cauldron felt their scalps tingle, their pores quivering with dread.
A chilling moon, exuding an enigmatic might, loomed over the consciousness of Yu Yuan, Yuan Lianyao, and Old Cash.
The cauldron hung motionless in the void.
In a mere moment, Yu Yuan and his companions were petrified, transformed into three statues of sheer cold.
Their gazes, thoughts, and breaths ceased to waver.
"Whoosh!"
Emerald flames burst forth from Lim Zhuyun, heedlessly hurling themselves towards the Evil Cauldron, eager to engulf both the cauldron and the trio within.
